


home is wherever i'm with you

by novaranthine



Category: unOrdinary (Webcomic)
Genre: Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Natural Disasters, Post-Apocalypse, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novaranthine/pseuds/novaranthine
Summary: At the beginning there is only Blyke and Isen. Then Rei came and naturally, Remi and Arlo followed.Or Blyke and Isen finds family where they lest expect it after the world goes to shit.
Relationships: Arlo & Rei (unOrdinary), Arlo & Remi (unOrdinary), Blyke & Isen & Remi (unOrdinary), Blyke & Isen (unOrdinary), Rei & Remi (unOrdinary)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely self-indulgent. A found family brainrot because I was craving it so desperately that I needed to write it or else I'll go crazy. 
> 
> Also, CATBOY ISEN AHAHAHAHAHA

“Do you trust me?” Isen offers his hand to him with a small, hopeful upward tilt of his lips as he meets his gaze. His hand hovers over Isen's, fear, apprehension, and anxious energy bundling itself in a tight coil in his stomach as he stares at the hand offered to him to the rising waters sloshing against what used to be a sizeable mountain before the night of floods drowned the bottom half of it. If he goes, there's no telling if they'll survive, but if he stays here he's also as good as dead. The waters are still rising; steadily, slowly, little by little for the past few months. After a moment of deliberation, he takes Isen's hand and climbs into the boat. 

“If we die, I'm blaming this all on you." Blyke grouches, Isen laughs. 

\-------

It's been two days since they took to the water, the mountain that they resided on was now nothing more than a vague shape in the horizon. The sun is relentless out on sea and with nothing but a few scrap of clothing to cover them, his skin tingled with the sting of sunburn. He hopes they could find land soon, they could stay there and resupply, not to mention they could sleep on a proper bed. He didn't mind the cuddling, Blyke welcomes it, it made him feel safe and tethered, what he does not appreciate, however, is the crick in his neck when he finds himself sleeping rather awkwardly. 

One thing Blyke does like about being on the boat and out on the open sea is the view of the night sky. He used to live in a city with tall buildings, blinding city lights, and smoke spilling from the chimneys of factories; it was difficult to see the beauty of the skies peppered with thousands and thousands of stars. While he wouldn't trade this unparalleled view for anything, he misses the city. He misses the security and safety net it provided. He misses his family. 

"Blyke?" Isen embraces him and drags him out of his reveries. The boy smiles sadly at him, they're both tired and beaten and exhausted. Hope runs thin as gossamer thread as they drift out on sea, praying tomorrow will bring about a better day.

It doesn't.

Two weeks passed and still no land in sight. Blyke presses himself against Isen, burying his face in the crook of his neck for comfort. Their supplies are running low and the days at sea, constantly adrift with nothing but water and more water in sight, is slowly and steadily driving him mad. 

"I fucking hate this." Blyke murmurs as he loosely wraps his arms around Isen's torso. The other boy nods and leans in, huddling closer to Blyke for warmth as the cool ocean breeze rocks them gently along. There's a brief pause between them before Isen speaks. 

"Our supplies won't last one more week," A tired sigh escapes his lips, "We need to find land soon." They lull back into contemplative silence as they watch the stars above them, half-heartedly tracing the shapes they can identify. Blyke tangles his hand with Isen’s squeezing firmly. 

“At least we’ll die together,” He softly murmurs, “I would haunt your ass if I died first.” 

“I’ll probably think I’m insane and just roll with it, better than having nothing.” Isen fires back, a soft yawn escaping his lips. 

“That’s…that’s kinda tragic, and a little bit depressing to be honest.” 

“It’s hard being optimistic considering we’re somewhere in the middle of nowhere and all this blue is driving me nuts.” Isen deadpans, peeking at Blyke through half-lidded eyes. Blyke snorts and elbows him just hard enough for the boy to squeak and give him a slap on the shoulder. They allow themselves this small mercy, a little thread of hope to cling on to before tomorrow comes and delivers them nothing but disappointments and frustration. 

\-------------

They are running low on supplies and no matter how much Isen rations it, it’ll never be enough, they need to find land, fast. It’s hard to ignore the hunger pains and the lightheadedness along with the now nauseating heat of the sun beating down on them. Isen had nearly fainted and fell into the water and it was only due to Blyke’s quick reflex that he had managed to grab his friend by the hem of his shirt and pull him back to safety. They eat every second day, sometimes every third day, but their growing concern is their drinkable water supply, there’s barely anything left. Their worsening circumstances have also started reflecting on their actions. 

Isen is jittery and short-fused, snapping at anything when things don't go his way which in turn annoys and tests Blyke’s even shorter fuse. They argue and argue and argue until Blyke can’t even remember a day of peaceful reprieve from their yelling. Neither of them can escape from the other to cool off, not when there’s only the fucking sea at their doorstep. So they sit, backs turned from each other, in begrudging silence as the heavy presence of possible death hovers ever so closely to them. 

“I’m scared.” Isen breaks first. His friend leans his head against his back, tears staining Blyke’s shirt as Isen clings to him. “I don’t want to die, not like this.” He whispers, voice barely above a whisper. 

“I miss my parents. I wish they were here.” He confesses, “I just want things to be normal again.” Blyke readjusts his position so he was facing Isen. Carefully, he tugs him closer and holds him in a tight embrace, burying his nose in the crook of his neck while he rubs comforting circles on his back. Isen instinctive wraps his own arms around Blyke, seeking the comfort his hold provided. He doesn’t speak, merely lets the brunette babble in between soft sobs. 

“I miss it too.” Blyke says after a while, “I wish my parents were here too, they’d know what to do, they always do. I want to see them again.” Isen clings to him, a hand squeezing his shoulder comfortingly as they sit there, the stars as their only witness as they go adrift, following the path the sea carves for them. 

They fall asleep in each other's arms, dreaming of a time where the world was still whole and not submerged deep in water. 

\-------------

Blyke thinks the lightheadedness far outweighs the hunger pains he's experiencing at the moment, especially with the harsh sun beating down on him. There's still no land in sight and the certainty of death looms over their heads, waiting. They're barely scraping by with their meager rations of food and water and with each passing day, the portions grow smaller and smaller until they have nothing left. He wonders if drowning hurts more than slowly wasting away. 

Isen huddles next to him, his damp forehead resting against his shoulder while his arms are wrapped around his stomach, trying to ignore it's pitiful sounds. Blyke can't say much, his stomach is making the same noises, but there is nothing he can do to appease it. They are out of food and their water supply is barely enough to quench their thirst. This is perhaps the end of them. 

'At least', Blyke drapes an arm over Isen's hunched shoulder and rests his chin on his head, 'I won't die alone.'

"This is the worst," Isen mutters next to him, "at least I have you so it sucks a little less but still…" 

Blyke couldn't help but agree. 

"Looks like I won't be haunting you at all, I was kinda looking forward to that." 

They laugh a little, it's a valiant attempt on ignoring the inevitable. 

\-------------

Blyke nearly cries when the universe decides to take pity on them and allow them to survive a little longer. Their salvation comes in the form of a boy, just a few years older than them with pine green hair and amber eyes. 

His name is Rei, and Blyke nearly cries at the act of kindness as the boy offers them both food and water before he leads them to shore. Blyke laughs as he watches Isen jump into dry land and collapse on the sand, laughter bubbling from his lips as he spreads his limbs out and proceeds to make a sand angel. 

"We made it!" Blyke exclaims as he joins Isen's side, his friend's laughter infecting him as they break into fits of giggles and relieved smiles. 

Rei smiles at them and let's them fool around the shore, getting themselves used to feeling the earth on their feet again and not the metallic bottom of the boat. When they finally calmed down from the euphoria of making it alive on dry land, Isen and Blyke collapsed on the ground, breath heavy and sweat dripping down their temples. They wore twin smiles on their faces as they looked up to the sky and screamed one last time. 

"We made it!" 

\-------------

The camp is far bigger than they could imagine and filled with survivors. Blyke and Isen stick close to Rei, even as far as grasping the hem of his shirt so they don't wander off too far from him. The other boy doesn't seem to mind as he simply reaches over and ruffles both their heads, a light smile on his lips. 

They are met with a mixture of curiosity, indifference, and distaste. Blyke understands why, he may be a kid but he survived the initial wave and continued to thrive despite his circumstances. New survivors such as him and Isen meant more mouths to feed, more people meant more resources used, and in such a dire time, less is optimal. 

Subconsciously, Blyke seeks out Isen's hand, holding on to it like a lifeline as they march on, holding their heads high and ignoring the burning stares of their fellow survivors. 

Rei leads them to a small enclosure where they are greeted with a blond boy just a year or two older than them and a girl about the same age as them. Blyke can feel the scrutiny in the blond's gaze as he puts himself forward, standing in front of the girl with roses in her hair who merely greets them with a cheerful wave, a stark contrast. Rei slings his arms over their shoulder and pushes them forward, his hands resting on either side of their shoulders. 

"These are Isen and Blyke, be nice, okay? They'll be helping us around while they're staying with us." Blyke watches from the corner of his eyes as Isen whips around to meet Rei's gaze, eyebrows furrowed. 

"We're perfectly fine on our own." Isen protests, wriggling out of Rei's reach. "We don't wanna depend on you more than we already have." Blyke is inclined to agree, but at the same time the prospect of staying with others seemed appealing, they've spent months with just each other at the start of the flood and then nearly a month adrift out on sea. 

"Isen," Blyke carefully starts, pulling the other boy to his side as he ducks his head and whispers, "I think it would be nice...besides where else would we go? We only brought food and water with us." 

Blyke feels Rei's hand let go and hears him shuffle back, giving them both some space to discuss their option, which is incredibly understanding of him. He turns his attention back to Isen who squirms uncomfortably, his lips pursed together. 

"I know that! But I don't want to owe them more than we already have! We don't know these people Blyke, what if he wants something we can't give? It's a big risk!" Isen harshly whispers, his gaze darting towards Rei back to Blyke, shuddering at his darkening thoughts. "The world has gone to shit, and people are desperate, remember that time someone—" Isen chokes on his words, the pitch of his voice heightening as panic overwhelms him. 

Blyke squeezes Isen's hand tightly, he had forced those memories in the back of his mind, had tried to forget the cold blade of a knife pressed to his throat as another hand roams— He pulls himself out of those memories before he ventures too far and spirals even further down into the rabbit hole. Cupping Isen's cheeks in the palm of his hands, he rests their foreheads together. 

"Breathe." He whispers, "I know we didn't have the best experience with other people but I really think he's nice. We'll leave once we gather enough supplies and everything, but right now we need the help of other people." Blyke meets his gaze, a helpless smile on his face as he pleads with him.

"If you can't trust them, trust me." Isen shakily inhales, his eyebrows furrowed together as he leans in, their noses touching. 

"Okay," Isen whispers, "I trust you." 

Blyke smiles. 

\-------------

Living with Rei is nothing like he was expecting. 

Blyke had expected the older boy to be a slave driver, but instead he is met with unbridled optimism and enthusiasm. He finds it a bit jarring at first, but soon takes comfort in his warmth, even more so when he notices Isen relax, even just a little. They spend days helping around camp, making themselves useful whether it's through maintaining their scoured equipment or through gathering food and other supplies. They stick to Rei's group, and the other survivors saw no reason to argue with the arrangement, already having pawned off their survival in Rei's hands. 

On days where there's nothing for them to do, Rei takes them exploring. He shows them the ruins, the hidden trails to camp, his favourite spots to think and get away when the world becomes too much to bear. Blyke learns to adore him in the small span of time they have spent together; to him, Rei becomes the older brother figure he never got to have. It's nice. 

Aside from Rei, Blyke and Isen mostly interact with Remi. She's sweet and kind, always happy to help whenever she can. Blyke appreciates her kind nature, appreciates how her kindness is laced with firmness, how her warmth eases Isen and lets him breathe and relax, unwind. Blyke nearly cries when Isen allows Remi to hug him, he doesn't of course, but he finds himself unable to contain a smile glowing with pride. It's progress. 

Arlo, on the other hand, rarely initiates any interaction with them, and if he does, it's out of absolute necessity. The blond is far from friendly, but he's not outright hostile, perhaps just a little bitter. Blyke doesn't blame him, they're strangers, and perhaps to him they appear as manipulative little shits taking advantage of Rei's kindness. But despite his reservations of taking in two stranglers, Arlo treats them well and Blyke finds him to be the best, out of the trio, in explaining difficult tasks and breaking it down. 

The days turn to weeks and the weeks to months, and in the swift passage of time that gently ebbs away the high walls they have surrounded themselves in, Blyke and Isen find themselves a place they can call home. The house is nothing grand or picturesque, it's small and cracked and roofed with thick branches and tarps; they make it work though. 

\-------------

Things were looking up. Three months after their arrival at the survivor camp, the water levels had slowly but steadily dropped and exposed more land. However, the exposed landmass is strange. Despite spending nearly six months submerged, there were already countless trees dotting the edges. Trees that seemed to grow overnight because when Blyke returned to look at the landmass the next day, it was already covered in thick, dense foliage. The trees are huge, their impressive length could put any skyscraper to shame. He drags the others to explore it. 

They don't wander in too far, the undergrowth is far too dense to render it easy to transverse and fool around. It's dark too and Blyke couldn't put his finger around it, but there's something in the darkness that puts him on edge, as if the shadows are shifting and something is waiting. 

More landmass appear shortly after the other, each as strange as the previous. They were interconnected, each island had a land bridge connecting it to the next. Rei takes everyone to explore the edges of the new landmass, lets them frolick in rolling waves of the ocean, and bask in the mild afternoon sun. 

People grew curious, soon their little galavanting around the island edges became missions on breaching the dense undergrowth and creating a path, carved markers, and explored what the forests have to offer. 

It became the new norm, however...

The Night of Embers changes everything. 

Blyke can hear the pounding of his heart loud against his ears as he, Isen, and Remi huddle together while Rei and Arlo stay low as they flank either side of the door, knives in hand and lips pressed together in a grim line. There is something in the forest, a few feet shy of their little shack, prowling and waiting for the chance to strike. The earthquake had quieten minutes ago, an event nothing short of terrifying when the ground beneath his feet felt like it was ready to split wide open and swallow everything in its path. However, whatever is outside the door must be massive and heavy as the earth quivers with each step it takes. 

Blyke holds on to Remi and Isen a little tighter, shutting his eyes as he offers a silent prayer to whatever god is watching. 

The loud, trembling patter of footsteps pauses for a brief moment, and in that window of time, everyone in the room tenses, their bodies pressed closely against the wall as they wait in bathed breath for the creature's next move. A groan that Blyke can only describe as something between groan and the creaking of old, rusty hinges echoes before it resumes its movement in a different direction. The thick tension within the room dissipates as they exhale slowly, tensed shoulders laxing but remaining pressed against each other. 

The moment of respite, however, swiftly ends when the screams of the other survivors rings loud and clear through the night. Blyke immediately feels Isen and Remi press against him even closer with Isen's head now buried in his chest while Remi presses her face against his back, nose brushing against his shoulder blade. Blyke squeezes his eyes shut and sinks into them, hands grasping theirs in his as he firmly squeezes them. 

For a second, Blyke peeks through half-lidded eyes. Arlo has a knuckle-white grip on the edge of Rei's shirt, vehemently shaking his head when Rei attempts to reach for the doorknob. He sees Arlo glance back at them and then at Rei, saying something too quiet for him to hear. Finally, for what seemed like hours, Arlo lets go of his shirt. Rei glances towards them and smiles a little, he and Arlo keep low as they approach their huddled forms. 

Arlo sits next to Isen while Rei flanks Remi, the two drape their arms over them, pressing themselves close. Rei whispers words of comfort as he holds them close. 

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He tells them as he presses a kiss to Remi's head. Blyke believes him. 

The night is long and tense as they wait for the silence that follows the now fading screams. No one gets a wink of sleep, they remain huddled together, trying to ignore the stillness that followed when the screams faded out. 

When morning came, Rei gingerly untangles himself from them. Arlo quietly follows, only to have Rei put a hand on his shoulder and smile. 

"Stay here, protect the kids, I'll be back." The blond looked like he was ready to argue, however, one stern look rendered him pliant to Rei's command. Arlo nods and returns to his spot next to Isen, his hand caressing the boy's hair who immediately leans closer to his touch. 

"Be safe and come back soon," Arlo rests his chin on Isen's head, but his gaze remains steady on Rei's retreating back. "please." 

"I will." 

And with that, Rei leaves, closing the door behind him. They sit in silence for a few minutes before the grumbling of their stomachs deemed it appropriate to break the silence. Arlo laughs a little. 

"Stay here, I'll make you three something." Isen whines a little when Arlo pulls away and then shuffles closer to Blyke, burying his face in the crook of his neck. 

"We're gonna be alright...right?" Remi whispers, lifting her head a little so she can look at the other two. Blyke smiles, hopping that the brave face will bring her some semblance of comfort. 

"We will. Arlo and Rei are here, they promised, remember?" He replies. Remi nods and sinks back to her position, a soft sigh leaving her lips. She gently squeezes his hand. 

"You're right." 

Blyke nudges Isen, but only gets a small grunt in response before the boy tries to squish himself even closer to him. 

"Dude, are you not gonna say anything?" 

" 'm sleepy," Isen responds, "really sleepy." As if to further emphasize his response, he yawns softly and snuggles closer. 

When Arlo comes back with their food, it takes all of his patience not to scream at Isen to wake his ass up as the boy refuses to wake up no matter how hard they shake him. When he stirs from his sleep, Isen jolts up immediately and runs to sink with a hand pressed to his mouth. They follow immediately, calling his name in harsh whispers. 

They find him doubled over the sink, dry heaving and tears in his eyes. From one glance at him, Blyke can see his shoulders shaking and hear the way his breathing go quick and shallow as if he had just woken from a nightmare. He stops Remi and Arlo before they could approach him, Blyke shakes his head and pushes them back lightly. 

"Let me." He whispers before turning his attention to Isen. He takes a cautious step forward, his hands both exposed. "Hey." 

This catches Isen's attention as he shifts away from the sink and moves towards the corner, his eyes glazed and dark. 

"Isen, it's me, Blyke. You're safe, we're in the house. Remember Rei? We're at his house and it's morning." He makes no attempt to touch him and keeps a good amount of distance between them, not wanting to make him feel trapped and small. "You're okay, you're okay." 

Blyke reaches out, a small smile on his lips as he offers his hand to him. "Come on, it's okay, I'm here. Breathe with me, okay?" 

Recognition flashes in Isen's eyes and he relaxes a bit, he gingerly takes Blyke's hand and pulls the boy closer. Blyke obliges and let's Isen bury his face in his chest, let's him tangle their hands together and breathe; slowly, steadily. They stood there for minutes and when Isen finally regains his composure, he smiles a little shyly at them, cheeks tinted with pink and embarrassment. 

"Sorry." He says, face hidden in the crook of Blyke's neck. 

"Don't be, it's okay, I got you." Blyke pauses and peeks over to his shoulder, a small smile on his lips as he nods at Remi and Arlo, both hovering worriedly at the side. "We got you, you're not alone. We're here for you." 

When things calm down enough, Arlo brings in the food and they sit and eat, quietly cracking small jokes to lighten up the heavy atmosphere. It works, they sit there, food finished, and soft laughter echoing between the four of them. It's peaceful again. 

Rei comes back near dusk, the man nearly topples over when they all assault him with a hug. Arlo immediately scolds him while fighting back the emotion swelling in his voice as he holds on to Rei in a tight grip, afraid to let go. The boy laughs in good humour and pulls them in a tight embrace, his shoulders shaking as he buries his nose in their hair. When they break apart, Rei pulls Arlo to the side, his expression grim and haunted. Once the two were out of earshot, Isen whispers. 

"Rei smells like blood and sea salt." 

\-------------

Rei stirs them clear from the survivor camp, doesn't let them wander too far from him or Arlo no matter what the circumstance is. It was suffocating, but Blyke bears with it because he can feel the anxiety rolling off Rei in waves. Something happened and whatever it is, Rei is doing his best to protect them from it. It makes him think back to what Isen had said days ago, something about blood and seasalt. 

Speaking of Isen, he had started acting strange after the Night of Embers as he heard Rei say. His friend refused any physical contact and when confronted by the sudden change, he would fervently deny it or worse, clam up and refuse to speak no matter how hard any of them would try to coax him into speaking. He insisted on being left alone, insisted on keeping to himself. It terrified him, Isen would always talk to him, no matter how angry they are with each other, they're family after all. The way he is acting now doesn't make sense, and he isn't the only one to notice. 

Rei tries to sit Isen down and offers a lending ear only to be turned down, Remi invites him to join her weave flower crowns only for Isen to ignore her and turn away; even Arlo makes an effort to reach out, always offering to have him join him out to collect wood or forage, but Isen continues to refuse. 

As the days pass, the colder he grows, and they barely see him as he barricades himself in a separate room and tucked beneath the covers. And when he does step out of the room, he keeps the hood of his jacket over his head and a piece of cloth covering his nose and mouth. It continues for one more week before Blyke decides he has had enough of Isen's self-imposed isolation. He tackles the problem head on. Literally. 

But Isen's reflexes are faster than he had expected. Blyke hits the wall hard, knocking the air out of his lungs as he falls flat on his stomach and a pained wheeze escaping his lips. He feels a pair of hands grasp his shoulder and gently guide him to a sitting position as he tries to reorient himself with his surroundings. 

"Isen, what the fuck was that!" He hears Arlo yell, it's the first time he hears the blond ever raise his voice. 

"Blyke? Blyke, are you okay? does it hurt really bad anywhere?" Rei's soothing voice followed, but he could hear the edge in his tone as he spoke. Faintly trembling with contained anger. 

" 'm fine." He answers as he looks up to see Isen stand there, frozen in place as he stares at his own hands. 

Isen breaks when Arlo touches him and Blyke's heart aches as he watches Isen crumble to his knees and double over, hands over his head as a whimper escapes his lips. 

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He repeats the phrase over and over again, each sounding more and more desperate as his sobbing grew louder. Blyke looks to Rei who nods at him, without saying a word, Rei helps him up to his feet as they gather around the sobbing boy. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay we know you didn't mean to. You must be getting used to your new power—" Rei stops when Isen slowly lifts his head and pulls back his hood and the cloth covering his mouth and nose. He hears the collective gasps of the others, but Rei merely stares as his throat grows dry, his tongue suddenly heavy in his mouth and unable to muster the strength to speak.

"Please," Isen begs, tears rolling down his cheeks as he shies away from them and curls in on himself, "please don't kill me." 

"Of course we won't! Why would we ever—" 

"I saw it," Isen interrupts Remi's outburst with a tearful whimper, "even if you don't kill me, the other survivors would...like they did to the other kid." 

A deep horror dawns on Rei's face when he finds Isen's catlike eyes fixed on him. He turns his eyes away, unable to meet his gaze as the creeping flames of shame engulfs his being. 

"Rei, what is he talking about? An execution? Another kid?"

"Rei?" 

He abruptly stands, startling everyone, especially Isen who further moves away from them, shoulders tensed and ready to flee. 

"Pack everything—" 

"Rei—" 

"—we need to leave now, if they find Isen—" 

"Y-you mean it's true? They—" 

Blyke rises to his feet with new found strength and stands protectively in front of Isen, angling his body in a way that blocks him from their eyes. A scowl fixes itself on his lips as he all but growls at Rei. He registers the bubbling anger in his gut, the cold flames of fear licking at his veins as amber meets honey, Blyke refuses to falter as he watches the overwhelming guilt flashing in Rei's eyes, he needs to know if he can trust him. 

"Is that why you didn't want us to go near the camp anymore? Is that why you're always sending us away with Arlo all the time?" Rei grimaces but nods slowly in confirmation, his rosy cheeks a contrast to his paling skin. "Why didn't you tell us?" 

And with that simple question, Rei explodes. 

"What could I tell you? Do you want me to tell you how barely a quarter of the people survived THAT night? Do you want me to tell you how I couldn't do anything as a bunch of people executed a little boy? How I was too scared to do anything?" His voice trembles as he speaks, eyes lined with tears kissing his cheeks. "I just wanted to protect you from it. I wanted you to be happy…" His words trail off as his gaze shifts down to Isen, his guilt heavy in his chest as he watches the boy whimper against the wall. 

"I don't know what I could have told you." The intensity in Blyke's eyes withers away into something softer, something quiet and gentle as he lowers his guard and moves closer to Rei. He wraps his arms around his waist and buries his face in his chest, a silent, sincere apology as he squeezes the older boy firmly. 

And just like that, the heightened tension permeating the room simmers away. Rei returns his embrace and soon another two pairs of arms throw themselves around them. Blyke lifts his head to find a softly smiling Remi and a furiously blushing Arlo huddled against them and he smiles before he cranes his head to look at Isen, meeting his longing gaze with a grin as he holds out his hand to him. He watches as the amber furred ears atop his head twitches, his eyes searching Blyke's before he slowly rises to his feet and runs to them. 

With Isen's newfound strength, they find themselves tackled to the floor, a mess of tangled limbs and tearful laughter. Rei ruffles their hair and kisses the top of their foreheads, a wide smile spreading on his lips. They lie there for what felt like hours, tangled together and basking in their shared warmth. 

"Come on, we're going, we can't let them find our cute Isen here, can we?" He teases, running his thumb over the ears poking out of Isen's head. They laugh when Isen purrs to his touch and immediately flares red upon catching himself.

"We're really going?" Arlo asks, voice tinged with uncertainty as he clutches Rei's arm. 

"Yes." Rei answers immediately, placing a placating hand on Arlo's head as he smiles at him. "It won't be easy and we'll have to start from scratch, but at least we have each other, right?" 

"But the monsters—" 

"I won't let them touch you, ever." He holds out his hand to the ceiling and they watch in utter amazement as a small, condensed ball of lighting flickers to life at the tips of his fingers. "I have a little secret of my own too." 

\-------------

Over the course of a week, Rei and Arlo traversed possible escape routes, marking them, and memorising their path while Blyke and Remi gathered food and water for their travels. Isen is left in-charge with organising and packing away everything. Once Rei found their preparations complete and all loose ends tied, they fled under the cover of night. 

And they never looked back. 


	2. I'll follow you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bunch of shenanigans that takes place after the events of the first chapter.

There's something about being surrounded by the gnarly, tall trees and thick underbrush that feels so much like home to Isen. He blames it on his newly acquired ability. 

The changes are rapid, and Isen couldn’t be more thankful that they left the encampment as soon as possible, he could already picture his head being on the chopping block the moment the truth reveals itself to the other survivors. His body is changing, putting aside his keen sense of smell and the other minor physiological changes such as the tail and ears, he finds himself needing to watch the pressure he applies on anything. He’d rather not crush anyone’s skull with his newfound strength. His senses are sharper than ever, his field of vision wider, and he can see in the dark which is absolutely fantastic and useful when out and about in a maze of very, very overgrown trees. 

“Where are we even going?” Arlo asks as he trails just right behind Remi, his gaze darting towards the moving shadows behind the sea of trees. 

“Wherever my gut tells us to,” Isen quips which gets him two very unimpressed stares, a long but fond suffering sigh, and a soft snort. He takes that as a small win. 

“Isen, remember I said if I die first, I’ll haunt you? I mean that,” Blyke grumbles beside him, arms folded to his chest. “I mean if you can turn into some cat boy—”

“Hey!”

“—then being a ghost doesn’t seem too out there.” Blyke adds, ignoring his cries. 

“That’s true,” Arlo says, “make that two ghosts haunting him. He better sleep with one eye open,” he adds with a smile sharp enough to cut through glass. Isen shivers, he doesn’t like the Blyke and Arlo combination, they’re somewhat terrifying together. 

“Make that three!” Remi chimes in. 

“Four, actually. I obviously have to supervise because otherwise you’d go for being double dead!” Rei cheerfully chirps in, Isen laughs. 

He feels free. 

* * *

“Dude, you’re…” All of them are a little lost for words, little being an understatement because there is not enough words in the english vocabulary to capture the amazement and sheer panic they are all collectively experiencing as they face the massive feline creature in front of them who happens to be Isen. 

“I’m a massive cat, yes, I know!” Isen understands of course, because while the cat ears and tail was weird, it was doable and easy to cope with. However, being nearly an eight, going nine, foot tall creature with sharp teeth and even sharper claws, Isen doesn’t know where to begin in order to wrap his head around the fact that he is now a massive fucking cat. “I’m not sure how this happened…” 

“You know, if you didn’t suddenly turned into…” Rei gestures to his entire figure, hesitant and anxious, “...a cat in front of us, I might have fried you.” He admits, sounding very guilty. Isen wouldn’t blame him if he did, he would have done the same thing if he was in his shoe. 

“I know, wouldn’t blame you for it too.” 

Isen finds out that he has the wonderful grace of a newborn fawn when it comes to walking on fours. Everything feels weird, especially the constant thought of needing to stand on his back legs, being so used to standing upright that being on fours felt like he's crawling his way through the forest. He feels the phantom ache of being hunched over for far too long even when it's completely normal for a cat to be, well, on its feet. 

"You'll get used to it," Rei says, giving him a gentle pat on the back. "Hang in there!" 

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one feeling all weird and achy with these sudden changes!" Isen complains as he flops on the ground, rolls over until he can grasp Rei by the hip and push him down with a soft thud. The boy groans but Isen merely ignores him as he keeps him in place there with a single paw. He rests his chin on top of it, peering at Rei with playful amusement. 

"Nooooo, get off," He complains as he half-heartedly writhes beneath him. "You're heavy." 

"Are you calling me fat?" 

"No, but I'm starting to think you're a massive pain in the butt," Rei quips, relinquishing himself to Isen's hold. 

"Rude, you're not allowed to sleep on me then. Have fun sleeping in the cold, hard ground!" Just as he was about to continue spouting some random nonsense, a weight nestles itself on top of him. 

"Sounds good to me!" Remi happily chirps in, resting her chin on top of Isen's head while gently stroking his fur. "Rei takes up too much room!" 

Then another weight adds itself on top of him along with a teasing remark, "Yeah, you kick and and move too much in your sleep, I refuse to wake up another morning with your stinking foot in my face—" 

"If there's anything stinking here, it's that breath of yours!" Rei adds from beneath him, Isen laughs. 

"You're all idiots, " Is what Arlo says before he joins them, content with leaning on Isen and making himself comfortable and snug against his thick fur. 

"You wouldn't trade us for the world though," Blyke gently pokes the blond in the back of the head, snorting softly when he slaps his hand away.

"No, but I'd trade you for coffee and a good book." 

"Rude. You'd probably sell us out for a cornchip!" Remi accuses, her gaze drifting towards Arlo for a short moment before getting distracted by the softness of Isen's fur once more. 

"You're not even worth half a cornchip." Arlo shoots back, a knowing smirk of victory forming on his lips as Remi softly whined and deflated against Isen. "I win again." 

"No fair, you always have comebacks!" 

"You just need to get smarter." 

Blyke groans, "Oh no, here we go again." 

Remi pounces Arlo, Rei blissfully ignores them, Blyke watches with exasperation, and Isen falls asleep in the lilting melodies of boisterous laughter and barely masked fondness in the irritated berating by Arlo as he tousles with Remi on the ground. 

* * *

"Do you think Rei is gonna turn into a jellyfish or an electric eel at some point?" Silence. 

"W-what?" Rei wheezes out a laugh as he stares at Blyke in utter disbelief. "Where did that come from?" 

"I mean, Isen turned into a cat and gained all sorts of cool abilities! What if you have to turn into an animal to unlock your full potential or something—" they can all clearly see the heat quickly rising to his cheeks as he tries to explain his logic. Adorable. 

"Blyke, be honest. How much of a weeb were you before the flood?" The reaction was instantaneous. 

"I-I'm not a weeb! I don't even like to those kinds of things—" 

"Hahaha—!" 

"Your face is so red!" 

Blyke buries his face in his hands, "I hate this fucking family." 

"Love you too...weeb." 

"Isen, I'm going to skin you alive and make you into a fur coat I swear to god—" 

"You can't do that, we need him as a mattress!" 

Softly gasping, Isen rolls over on Remi and pins her in place. He feigns hurt, "A mattress, that's all I'm good for." 

"And a free ride," Arlo adds as he flicks Isen's nose. 

"Assholes, all of you." 

Rei haphazardly throws himself on top of Isen, laughing gently as he gives him a pat on the head. "But you love us anyways," 

"I do," Isen leans towards his hand, "thank you, for being there and taking care of us." 

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." They drift into peaceful silence, huddling together under the cover of trees where the stars can only peek at their existence.


End file.
